


visits

by tmylm



Series: before you even knew i was gone [2]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Bechloe AU, F/F, Smut, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-23 23:22:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21328363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmylm/pseuds/tmylm
Summary: Chloe’s first visit is all about clarity. Clarity, exploration, and a whole list of previously unanswered questions.
Relationships: Bechloe, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Series: before you even knew i was gone [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1537561
Comments: 45
Kudos: 96





	visits

**Author's Note:**

> I strongly suggest reading [Before You Even Knew I Was Gone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21258803/chapters/50616665) if you haven't already, otherwise this addition probably won't make much sense, and contains major spoilers! (Somewhat dialogue heavy chapter.)
> 
> **Rated M** for smut.

Chloe’s first visit is all about clarity. Clarity, exploration, and a whole list of previously unanswered questions.

*

Beca doesn’t have pictures of Chloe. In fact, she isn’t even sure it’s possible to take pictures of her… Like Chloe had said, she has no idea how any of this actually works, so if it’s lost on her, then it’s definitely lost on Beca. All of her afterlife knowledge comes from horror movies, but according to Chloe, it’s not like that.

_“I don’t really know how to explain what I am. I don’t walk through walls, I don’t shapeshift or teleport or anything like that.”_

If Beca really wants to see Chloe, she can search her up on the Internet, but the last thing she wants to see is that haunting article. With a last name now, she has been able to find Chloe’s Facebook page, but it is now memorialized, and something about that is just as terrifying as the online articles.

So, for now, all Beca has are her memories, the ones she finds herself questioning over and over, questioning whether she somehow made the whole thing up. Honestly, it’s enough to drive her crazy, because Beca doesn’t know when she is going to see Chloe again. She doesn’t know when she’s going to get to validate her own mind, confirm that the whole thing wasn’t the elaborate fever dream she has herself half convinced it was.

Terrified of the possibility of missing Chloe, though, if by chance she does show up, Beca skips the next week of classes. Probably not the smartest idea as far as her education goes, but what can she do? Chloe doesn’t know where she goes to school, she won’t know where to find her. It feels obsessive. The whole thing, it just… It just feels obsessive. And Beca is back to her fever dream assumption all over again, right up until the following Friday, when a small tap on the window startles her from a sleepy state.

Taking into consideration the last time they’d seen one another, it’s almost laughable, the way Chloe waits to be let in this time. Especially because the window is already open.

“I can leave,” Chloe offers upon seeing the look of uncertainty on Beca’s pale face as she approaches the window in something like slow motion.

Beca doesn’t say anything at first. She just shakes her head, pushing the window open further to allow room for Chloe to enter. As she does, Beca takes a quick glance downward, gaze landing on the ledge below. “Is it a, uh… You know, dead person thing?” Beca asks somewhat dumbly, gently tugging the window closed once Chloe is safely inside. She can see the path Chloe took up here, the way the drainpipe is positioned in a way that it is definitely possible to climb it up onto the ledge, though it is not something Beca would be willing to try herself. And Chloe had seemed to climb the rocks so expertly at the beach, it’s really not that strange a question. “All of the climbing.”

“I don’t really know,” Chloe shrugs a shoulder, “I guess so. I don’t know any other dead people. I do know that I’m not afraid of getting hurt now, though. So if I fall, I fall.”

It makes sense—as much sense as this situation will allow, anyway—so Beca simply nods in understanding, almost cautiously edging around Chloe and toward her desk. It seems Chloe understands the caution, understands that it might take Beca a little bit to relax, because she doesn’t seem offended, nor does she try to move any closer. Chloe just perches on the edge of the bed, offering Beca a small smile.

“I didn’t think you were going to come,” Beca finally says, unable to tear her stare from Chloe. A part of her still wonders if Chloe is actually there, or if this is all in her mind. Again, though, Beca knows she hadn’t imagined that connection. If nothing else, that is what is keeping her convinced right now. Especially because it seems to increase tenfold now. Like that invisible rope Chloe had mentioned before, it’s almost like there’s one tethered to the two of them now, too.

“I promised, didn’t I?” Chloe questions. Her smile is still small, but Beca can tell that it’s genuine.

“You promised you were going to show that last night in Myrtle Beach,” Beca challenges, frown settling onto her features.

“No, I didn’t,” Chloe shakes her head. “I promised that second night, when you asked for my number. I promised I’d be at the beach, and I was. That last night, I told you I’d see you later. But I didn’t promise.”

A part of Beca wants to argue, but she can’t, because Chloe is right. It doesn’t really make it any better that Chloe hadn’t shown, but when she thinks back to their last conversation, after their trip to the rocks and the cave, Chloe hadn’t _promised_ anything.

“I don’t break my promises,” Chloe adds.

“And that’s the only reason you’re here? Because you don’t break your promises?”

“No,” Chloe shakes her head, “I’m here because I want to be. I wanted to see you.”

“I wanted to see you, too.”

Chloe’s smile becomes a little more natural, a little easier. Beca doesn’t even notice she is mirroring it at first. Though, once it comes to her attention, she somewhat awkwardly clears her throat, diverting her gaze elsewhere. Beca can see the way Chloe is studying her from the corner of her eye, but tries to ignore it. The same way she tries to ignore her own blush, the way her cheeks are definitely darkening a shade. She appreciates Chloe not pointing it out.

_“Beca?”_

The voice makes them both jump, both heads snapping in the direction of the door.

“Shit. That’s my mom,” Beca whispers, clearing her throat once more, before raising the volume of her voice to call back to her. “Yeah, Mom. What’s up?”

_“Are you talking to someone?”_

Beca never has been the best liar, so Chloe’s whispered instruction to tell her that she’s on the phone is the kind of quick thinking she needs. Beca nods shortly and does just that.

_“Oh, okay. Sorry!”_

“No problem,” Beca calls back down. She stands, approaching the half-open door. “Yeah, Ashley is just catching me up on school stuff. Did you need something?”

_“No, I just thought I heard you talking.”_

“Oh,” Beca calls, “Okay.”

Beca makes sure to gently close the door the whole way, before turning back to Chloe. She half expects her to be gone, though she is still there, still perched on the edge of the bed. Rather than head back to the desk, Beca hesitates for the briefest of moments, before making her way over to join her. She admittedly doesn’t sit too close, and Chloe still doesn’t try to move any closer. Chloe just watches as Beca pulls her feet up underneath her, legs crossing pretzel style. Beca notices a look of questioning on Chloe’s face.

“Catching you up on school stuff?” Chloe asks curiously.

“Yeah,” Beca nods. “I missed a couple days of classes this week.”

“How many days?”

Beca shifts awkwardly in her spot, shoulder shrugging nonchalantly. “All of them.”

The curious look remains on Chloe’s face as she eyes her. Beca almost expects her to worry, to wonder if she is sick or something. But, already, it seems Chloe Beale knows her better than that. She doesn’t say anything. Instead, she just waits for Beca to elaborate.

“Okay, no,” Beca frowns, tone a little defensive. It is the way Beca is with most people, truth be told. But with Chloe, the defense that shoots up around her stems from the fact that she knows it looks kind of pathetic, the way she waited around for her. “You don’t get to look at me all judgy right now. I didn’t know when you were going to show.”

Chloe lets a small sigh fall from her lips, though chooses not to say anything.

Beca has no idea it is the second thing Chloe is adding to a mental list.

“Can we start over?” Beca questions, shoulders slumping slightly. She doesn’t want this to be weird—no weirder than it already is, anyway. It seems Chloe is in agreement, because she eyes Beca only a short moment longer, before gently nodding her head.

“I’d like that.”

“Me too.”

How they can go from their moment of awkwardness to two sets of blue eyes meeting across the bed and smiles easing onto two pairs of lips is lost on Beca, but she doesn’t hate it. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Uh, so how was your week?” Beca asks, not fully understanding the look of amusement that overtakes Chloe’s pale features at first. “What?”

“Is that really what you want to ask me?”

Beca simply raises a brow, while Chloe turns her body to better face Beca. Her legs lift up onto the bed and curl beneath her, and Beca wonders if the position is more comfortable for her—does Chloe even _feel_ physical discomfort?—or if she is just easing into this a little better. Regardless, the more natural position helps Beca to relax some, too.

“I know that this isn’t a normal situation,” Chloe continues, soft voice matching her gentle expression. “I’m sure you have questions.” She scoots a little closer, and Beca doesn’t move away. Beca is evidently easing a little now, too. “Go ahead, ask me anything you want to know. I can’t guarantee I’ll have an answer, but I’ll do my best.”

“Right, okay,” Beca nods, grateful for the go ahead. Truthfully, she has a whole list of questions for Chloe. So many, in fact, that she has them all written out on the notes application on her phone, though she opts not to pull that up. They are all swirling through her mind on a continuous loop anyway, the same way they have been all week.

The one that comes out, however, is not even done intentionally. In fact, Beca is pretty sure it isn’t even on the list. The same way she can’t help her tone, the quiet, sad sound lacing her voice, she can’t help the question that follows.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Apparently, Chloe wasn’t expecting it either. Her expression drops, wide eyes growing sadder, before she leans forward after only a moment’s hesitation, and captures Beca’s hand with her own. Beca doesn’t pull away. In fact, she doesn’t even break eye contact, she simply laces their fingers the same way Chloe does, and looks at her expectantly, sad eyes taking everything in.

“Beca…” Chloe whispers, a sympathetic expression tugging onto her face. It seems like there is something to follow, something specific to say, but something about Chloe’s body language tells Beca she changes her mind at the very last minute. Beca is still too captivated, too consumed by everything Chloe Beale, to even question her. “Would you have believed me if I had?”

“No,” Beca responds quietly, glancing down at their intertwined fingers, “I guess not.”

“Try another question,” Chloe says softly, her fingers squeezing delicately onto Beca’s.

So, she does. Beca asks the questions she has listed on the notes application of her phone. Beca asks if she is the first person to have ever seen Chloe the way she currently is or if anybody else has, asks what Chloe did before the incident. (No, no one has, not as far as Chloe is aware. She was in vet school, Beca finds out. She really loves animals, and talks about her dog very fondly.) Beca asks some questions that she assumes Chloe will find stupid (can she use a cell phone?), but Chloe doesn’t judge her. She answers everything seriously (no, she can’t use a cell phone), gives Beca the most in depth responses she can.

Chloe asks Beca some questions, too. After the stranger ones, the ones surrounding death and Chloe’s current situation, it is easy to forget that this isn’t just two normal girls, two _living_ twenty-somethings, and the two just… Get to know one another. They learn one another’s favorite foods (at least Chloe’s favorite food from before). Beca tells Chloe that she wants to be a music producer, and Chloe asks if she can hear some of Beca’s mixes. (Beca tells her that she can, but later—she is very private with her music right now.)

As they talk, as the hours pass and feel like they are only mere minutes, the two move closer together, until they are sitting with their backs to the wall, side by side, and their hands are held comfortably in Beca’s lap. It was early evening when Chloe showed up, but it is dark out now. Beca’s mom has gone to bed—she came in to say goodnight first, and Beca tensed up a little, though it was clear her mom saw absolutely no sign of anybody in the room with her, even though Chloe never moved from her spot beside her. It is something that’s probably going to take some getting used to, Beca thinks, but her comfort level with Chloe has already far surpassed that of anybody else, so Beca is willing to deal with it. As long as she has Chloe in some capacity, she is willing to deal.

And that scares her a little bit, it really does. Though, looking at the big picture, it is a laughable thing to be scared of.

Beca feels her lids growing heavier, but she refuses to give in just yet. She doesn’t know how long she has left with Chloe before the invisible rope pulls her back again, so Beca doesn’t plan to spend the time they do have unconscious, regardless of Chloe’s insistence.

“I’m fine,” Beca says mid-yawn. She is met with a frown from Chloe, but she also doesn’t push too much. Evidently, Chloe wants to make the most of their time together, too. “I have more questions.”

“Fine,” Chloe nods, though she shuffles in her spot, briefly dropping her hold on Beca’s hand.

Beca glances up at her with a furrowed brow.

“I’m making you more comfortable,” Chloe explains, motioning Beca to sit forward, before draping her arm around her back. Beca relaxes almost immediately into the new position, leaning gently into Chloe’s side.

“There,” Chloe says quietly, free hand reaching out to lace her fingers through Beca’s again. “If you fall asleep, at least I know you don’t have the hard wall against your back.”

Beca frowns to herself, wanting to protest about how she doesn’t need Chloe to do things for her (if you were to ask Beca, she doesn’t need _anybody_ to do anything for her), but she really does feel comfortable in their new position. Beca feels safe tucked into Chloe’s side, so she begrudgingly nods her head, glancing down at their once again interlaced fingers.

“Is it hard against your back?” Beca questions without looking up. “I mean, can you feel it?”

“I can feel it,” Chloe nods, “And it’s hard, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. I told you, things don’t hurt me anymore. At least not physically.”

“Right,” Beca nods, voice a little mumbled, a little lazier. Her fingers have begun to play almost absentmindedly with Chloe’s, though she pauses their movements to gently squeeze, before glancing upward toward Chloe behind her. “Can you feel that?”

Chloe’s gaze immediately drops down toward Beca, the soft smile on her lips entirely contented. “I can,” Chloe confirms, her own fingers squeezing softly onto Beca’s. “I can feel you. Just like you can feel me.”

Despite the fact that she is tired, that her lids are heavy, Beca’s sleepy gaze catches Chloe’s, and it is hard for her to look away. So she doesn’t, she just stares up at her, searching those now familiar blue eyes. Beca doesn’t know exactly what she is searching for, but she does know that she’s struggling to look away. It seems Chloe is having the same problem, though she looks much more calm than Beca feels.

Normally, Beca doesn’t make the first move. She isn’t the type of person to assert any kind of dominance, at least not physically. Though, she finds herself gently releasing her hold on Chloe’s hand, and Chloe allows her to. Their gazes remain locked with one another’s, and Beca wonders if Chloe can hear the way her heart is beating. She wonders if Chloe’s would beat the same way, if… Well.

Chloe doesn’t say anything, doesn’t break into whatever thoughts are flying through Beca’s mind. Nor does she move. She just sits against the wall, watches as Beca straightens up a little to lift her fingers to the auburn hair falling neatly over Chloe’s shoulder. Almost cautiously, Beca brushes it back, her fingertips tracing gently along the soft skin of her neck.

“Can you feel that?” Beca asks, voice nothing much more than a whisper now. A soft smile tugs onto Chloe’s lips, and she gently nods her head as Beca’s hand delicately cups her neck. Beca’s gaze falls, briefly, to Chloe’s lips, though she picks it up again to meet her eyes. This stare lasts only seconds, however, before Beca is stretching up to brush her lips softly against Chloe’s. “How about that?” She whispers.

Chloe doesn’t even respond this time, she just leans a little closer, closing the gap between them, until their lips are pressing against one another’s. It occurs to Beca that this is the first time they have kissed since they were in the cave; all of their kisses between then and now have been to her cheek. But just like that, Beca finds that she is pulled in again, she is once again captivated wholly and completely by Chloe Beale, and much like that time at the cave, Beca has no desire to stop.

So, she doesn’t. And Chloe doesn’t stop her, either. Chloe doesn’t stop her as Beca twists her body in Chloe’s arm, until she is able to stretch her leg over to straddle Chloe’s thighs. Chloe’s arm falls from around Beca’s back, soft hands landing delicately on the smooth skin beneath the fabric of Beca’s shirt, and Beca’s hands find their way into Chloe’s hair. Her face tilts downward slightly to keep the rhythm of their kiss. It is softer than their kisses at the cave, it is less desperate, but their bodies move so easily together, like they just know one another’s next movements. Soon enough, they are moving away from the wall, and Beca is leaning her weight onto Chloe, until Chloe is laid on her back, with Beca hovering over the top of her.

“How much more do you think you’ll be able to feel?” Beca mumbles, lips moving away from Chloe’s, though they never leave her skin. They press to the smooth skin of her cheek, trailing across to her jaw, and Chloe tilts her face to the side, making room for Beca to work.

“I don’t know,” Chloe whispers in response, fingertips sliding upward beneath the fabric acting as a barrier between them. “But I’m okay with finding out.”

The thought has crossed Beca’s mind before now, wondering whether she hadn’t gotten to reciprocate when they were in this position before because Chloe… Well, _couldn’t_. But with Chloe’s go ahead, Beca is going to give herself the chance to explore. Her lips trail slowly along hot skin as she shuffles further down Chloe’s body, open-mouthed kisses pressed delicately to the crook of her neck. Beca feels the way Chloe shivers beneath her, hears the soft whimper that falls from her lips as Beca’s fingers graze over her thighs and slide beneath the light fabric of her dress.

This is new territory for Beca. She has had sex before, but before Chloe, she has never slept with a girl, and she has never been the one to make the moves. But as she moves down Chloe’s body, as her hands push the material of her dress upward, she isn’t afraid. She’s curious, almost desperate to explore every inch of the woman beneath her. Beca wants to look at her, too. She wants to take everything in. So, Beca moves her lips for the first time away from Chloe’s skin, sitting upright as she straddles her legs, to look down at her now exposed body.

Just like everything about Chloe, it’s all just so _normal_. Well, no, it’s breathtaking, but that’s just Chloe. Chloe is breathtaking, and Beca allows her gaze to sweep over her body. She takes in the smoothness of her skin, the light freckles that break up the otherwise pale tone.

Unsurprisingly, Chloe has no need for a bra, and Beca is grateful for the fact as her gaze travels upward, taking in the curves of her breasts.

Chloe watches her, and for the first time, Beca thinks she sees a hint of vulnerability in Chloe’s eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” Beca whispers, and it’s not just to calm Chloe’s obvious uncertainty. Chloe really is beautiful, and Beca feels her cheeks heating up slightly as she allows the sight to consume her.

Already, Chloe is like a drug to her, and Beca feels a release of some kind as she leans back in to press her lips to the hill of Chloe’s breast, one hand lifting to ghost over the other. Her fingers clasp, kneading gently, while her thumb flickers over Chloe’s already stiffening nipple. The action draws another soft whimper from the back of Chloe’s throat, and Beca takes it as permission to keep going. Her lips part to take the other nipple between them, tip of her tongue swiping over the bud. Apparently, Chloe can feel that, too. The way her back arches slightly, the way she whimpers again, it is all proof that Chloe can feel her, and Beca finds the whole thing so captivating, so mesmerizing, that she can’t help the soft moan she releases against Chloe’s skin in response.

Kissing down her body causes Chloe to tremble beneath her touch, and Beca pauses to look up at her once she reaches the barrier of her panties, almost like she is waiting for Chloe to tell her to go on. Blue eyes glance down at her, before Chloe softly nods her head, and Beca’s fingertips curl beneath the fabric, gently tugging her panties down her thighs. She notices right away that the fabric is wet, and amidst the feeling of smugness, Beca is also filled with desire, a desperation to taste exactly what she is doing to her.

Dress pushed right the way up, panties tossed aside, Beca settles between Chloe’s legs, palms resting gently on her inner thighs. She nudges them apart softly, lips meeting with hot skin as she peppers kisses upward, until her tongue is finally meeting Chloe’s wet center.

It is almost in unison, the way they both moan at that initial contact. Chloe’s body relaxes back into the mattress, hips rising slightly, while Beca takes the time to explore, full lips wrapping around Chloe’s swollen clit.

Her hands begin to explore, too. They trail from Chloe’s thighs until the tip of her finger is circling her center, finger sliding experimentally inside of her. She feels the warmth of Chloe clenching around her, revels in the way she moans beneath her, and lets her tongue begin to move. Beca savors the taste of Chloe’s arousal, the way her tongue moves through wet, sensitive folds.

Apparently, Beca really doesn’t need to question anymore about what Chloe can and can’t feel when it comes to her, because her reactions tell her she feels _everything_. Chloe’s body moves beneath Beca’s touch, thighs trembling as they part further, with Beca’s tongue flicking over the sensitive bud. She slides a second finger inside of her, tips curling to brush against her clenching walls.

Beca is learning that much like the way nobody else can see Chloe, they also can’t hear her. Because Chloe is anything but quiet as she writhes beneath her, as she edges closer and closer to her climax. Long fingers wind into the back of brunette hair, and Chloe moans through her orgasm, with Beca finally slowing her movements. Her chin is slick with arousal as she forces herself to pull back, and she knows there is no way this is in her head, there’s no way she is imagining this. She isn’t imagining the taste, the way Chloe trembles as Beca kisses her way back up her body. It is clear Chloe’s skin is still sensitive to the touch, and her fingers clasp a little more tightly into the back of Beca’s hair once their lips meet again, with Chloe keeping Beca tugged as snugly against her as possible as they share a desperate, messy kiss. Chloe whimpers softly into the feeling.

The way Chloe has to catch her breath is almost weird—she literally doesn’t even have a _heartbeat_—yet her chest is moving faster, her body struggling to come down from its high. She won’t let Beca move back too far, but Beca does part from their kiss, pulling back the slight distance Chloe will allow, to look down at her, to watch the expression on Chloe’s face.

“Do I even have to ask?” Beca questions quietly, expression a little more smug than intended.

Fortunately, Chloe chuckles quietly in response, shaking her head. “I felt you,” she murmurs, releasing one hand from the back of Beca’s hair. The other remains right there, though the now free one swoops around to the front, delicately brushing a chunk of mousy hair behind Beca’s ear.

By now, Beca is studying Chloe’s expression, gaze searching her eyes again, though she doesn’t say anything.

“What are you thinking?” Chloe questions quietly, fingertips brushing the same chunk of hair behind Beca’s ear again. Beca tilts her face slightly into Chloe’s touch.

“About your invisible rope,” Beca says, teeth sinking gently into her lower lip. “If it’s pulling you back.”

There is a sad kind of smile on Chloe’s lips, and Beca almost braces herself for her to push her off, for Chloe to tell her she has to leave. But instead, Chloe shakes her head, and Beca feels her whole body relax.

“Not yet,” Chloe whispers. “It will soon, and I don’t want it to. But I’m okay for now. I’m not going anywhere.”

Slowly, Chloe’s grip on Beca’s hair loosens, though Beca doesn’t move back right away. Instead, she leans in to push a delicate, lingering kiss to Chloe’s lips, one that Chloe easily reciprocates.

There is an obvious high that comes along with their spontaneous tryst, but the adrenaline can only keep her going for so long before Beca begins to feel herself pulled in by that sleepy state all over again. Even more so now, in fact. She is so content to just be with Chloe, so calm in her presence, that as she moves from her position on top of her and slips easily into Chloe’s outstretched arm, a part of Beca knows that she would be happy to stay like this forever.

It is an intense feeling, of course—an intense thought. And Beca is glad that this isn’t like the books or the movies, and that Chloe can’t somehow read her mind.

They’re both much more relaxed now as Chloe lays on her back, arm securely around Beca and her fingertips grazing feather lightly over the soft skin of her upper arm. Beca lays with her cheek to Chloe’s shoulder, hand flat against her bare stomach. The same way Chloe’s fingertips move against her skin, Beca’s draw soft shapes against Chloe’s abs, the stillness in the room only adding to their comfort.

“I have another question,” Beca mumbles sleepily into the near silence.

Chloe tilts her face toward Beca, pushing a soft kiss into her matted hair. “Hm?”

“How come you don’t wear a bra, but you wear panties?”

The question pulls a breathy chuckle from Chloe in response. “That’s what you’re thinking about?” She questions, light tone laced with amusement. “I guess it just feels weird not to. I know no one can see me, but it’s less weird to not wear a bra. I mean, can you imagine if I didn’t wear clothes at all?” Chloe smirks devilishly into the darkness, fingertips still brushing against Beca’s arm. “I feel like things would’ve gone differently if you’d seen the naked girl walking along the beach alone.”

Beca’s laugh is quiet and sleepy sounding, and she shuffles her body closer to Chloe’s, arm still draped across her middle. “I guess.”

It is a strange thought to fall asleep to, but then again, what about this situation isn’t strange? Beca is so comfortable in Chloe’s arms, though, that it is easy for her to drift off quickly, without even realizing she has done so.

It isn’t until her eyes blink open to the sunlight filling the room that Beca even registers that she has finally slept through the whole night, something she hasn’t managed since Chloe’s visit the day she returned from Myrtle Beach. It takes her a moment to recall the previous night, but Beca quickly glances up to the sight of Chloe laid on her back, staring contentedly up at the ceiling. Her gaze drifts to Beca quickly, though.

“Good morning,” Chloe greets softly, fingertips beginning to brush once more against the skin of Beca’s upper arm.

“Morning,” Beca mumbles in response, pushing herself lazily upward in search of her phone. It’s usually in her hand, or right beside her while she sleeps, but it was easy for her to even forget it existed while all consumed by Chloe. Even now, she only wants it to check the time. “How long have you been awake?”

There is a subtle look of amusement painted across Chloe’s smooth features as Beca catches her eye. “Since 2015.”

“Oh,” Beca says a little dumbly, frown wrinkling onto her face, “Right.”

Her phone is hidden somewhere among the bedsheets, but Beca finally finds it, then crawls back to her position beside Chloe. She lays on her back this time, with Chloe’s arm draped underneath her neck, and taps the screen to reveal an abundance of notifications.

“Wow, someone’s popular,” Chloe comments, and while her tone is its usual amount of breezy, Beca can’t help but feel almost guilty. She isn’t trying to rub her full, thriving life in Chloe’s face, after all.

“None of it is anything important,” Beca says, brushing all of the text message notifications off. Of course, Face ID has her screen unlocking, and the group chat between Beca and her friends opens to reveal countless text messages, everybody making plans to hang out today.

“You should go,” Chloe says, watching as Beca quickly locks the screen. Beca glances up at her with a look resembling confusion, and Chloe responds with a short laugh, pushing a lazy kiss against her forehead. “You know I have to leave, and I’m not about to cut into your day with your friends.”

“I see them all the time,” Beca challenges, “I’m not missing anything. Unless…”

It is the look on Chloe’s face, the apologetic expression, that has Beca’s heart sinking. It causes a soft sigh to leave her lips. “Invisible rope?” Beca questions quietly, “Already?”

Chloe just nods in response, her small smile a sympathetic one.

Beca allows another small sigh to fall as she rolls onto her front, staying closely by Chloe’s side still. “I guess we got a little longer than we did last time,” she frowns, glancing down at Chloe’s face.

“We did,” Chloe agrees, fingers lifting to brush gently through Beca’s tangled hair.

This time, before Chloe leaves, they decide to make a plan. Chloe doesn’t want Beca missing anymore school, and Beca doesn’t want to have to wait around, wondering when Chloe is going to return. So they decide on something solid, on Chloe coming back the following Friday, though only after Beca promises she doesn’t already have plans.

Beca thinks that maybe it’ll be easier this time, letting Chloe go. Because now she knows exactly when she is going to get to see her again, and considering it’s already Saturday morning, she has less than a week to wait. But as they rise from the bed and share a lingering kiss, and Chloe prepares to make her departure, Beca finds that it is only harder somehow. Like the attachment she felt to Chloe from the start is only intensifying the more time she spends around her.

Her mom is working, so Beca fortunately doesn’t have to explain where she is going as she leaves through the front door with Chloe (it is strangely nice not to have to sneak her in and out of the bedroom window), and Beca appreciates the few more moments they have together as she insists on driving Chloe to the airport. Beca finds out that last time, Chloe hopped in someone else’s cab, and the mental image is kind of amusing. The whole thing is really, but it’s just becoming so normal for Beca, so scarily normal, that there is really nothing to question.

They decide that Beca walking Chloe into the airport would probably be weird, considering they’re going to want to kiss goodbye. If they do that amongst a crowd, the people around them will essentially see Beca kissing thin air, so they share their departing kiss right there in the front seat of Beca’s car, in an empty corner of the short-stay parking lot.

And then as Chloe leaves with the promise of returning next week, and Beca watches her walk away, she finally begins to understand the pull of Chloe’s invisible rope.

Because now, undeniably, Beca knows Chloe Beale is the one holding the other end of hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. As always, you can find me on [tumblr](http://chloebeale.tumblr.com)!


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